Power Ball
As I traveled through a number of states this week, I noticed a number of billboards along the interstate advertising the “Power Ball” lottery. The billboard advertised the current amount of money you could win if you played the lottery, and it was well over $100 million. I thought about the name, “power ball,” and wondered why they use the term, power. We all know how marketing works, though, and that is to tap into man’s basic sinful nature to sell a product. Our nature seems to gravitate toward concepts like money, power, beauty, and popularity to name a few. We believe these are positive terms and fulfill a need. It is as if having these things or attributes make us happy, in control and have no worries. Man seeks power because he thinks he can then be in total control. It is our nature to want to be a god, although we may not define it as such.
Societies around the world are currently dealing with poor economic situations. However, in many of these countries such as the United States and Europe, people are not really starving. Some may be temporarily out of work but they are usually able to eat and survive unlike people in truly poor nations. Rather, during poor economic times people in the U.S. and Europe complain more about not having enough money to keep buying what they want, or maybe to keep what they have. It is not usually about lack of food or housing but lack of things and loss of control and power over our own lives. We, as humans, like money. You could argue the case that we need money to live and we do in modern societies as a means of exchange of our services. But the issue is not that we need money so much as that we never feel we have enough. Thus, this is the reason we like the idea of winning a lottery like power ball. We think that if we could win power ball, we could solve all our problems and be in control of our circumstances. What problems do we think we can solve? I think it is that our sinful nature craves having money for the power it provides more than in the things money can buy. We usually think in terms of spending money or the feeling of security it gives us, but really I believe deep down it is the power we gain.
We have a president and political party today that want people to believe they can fix all their woes if they will just give their money in taxes to the government. People will always fall into these lies and eventually find they just become slaves and in servitude to others and their government. There is no one in the world who has their best interests at heart but God. The government and those that spend the money just want the power taking it through a person’s
indebtedness. Governments and those who lead the government seek control and people relying on government are only giving over that control. Israel did this when they first asked for a king and rejected God.
“So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, ‘You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.’ But when they said, ‘Give us a king to lead us,’ this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.’” [1 Samuel 8:4-7 NIV]
We want power, position, and money to control our own destiny and the destiny of others, yet God is the One fully in control of our destiny. What is the current government administration trying to push? They feel they have the right to push more government on people because that is what they want. Yet, isn’t the government really just made up of people and their taxes? So to depend on the government for food, clothing, and vanity items is silly. Just as Israel eventually put themselves at the mercy of a king and government rather than God, so we tend to choose the same path because we do not trust God to fulfill our needs.
Winning a power ball lottery will always seem like a good idea but if our hearts are not in the right place with God in the first place, no amount of power, money or things will ever satisfy our desires, fix our problems, or get us into a better position with God. What we have to do instead is just the opposite. We have to believe and trust in Jesus Christ, the son God gave us as the only path to life in Him.
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” [John 8:12 NIV]
Filed Under Upside Down WorldSeek and Find
Most children have probably played the game hide and seek. One child is picked to hide while the other children close their eyes, count to some number, and then go in search of the child that is hiding. Seek by definition means “to search.” When the Israelites were wandering the desert for 40 years, the generation that sinned against God after the exodus passed away. The next generation had to be reminded of what God expected of them. Moses preached to them about their history and the expectations of obedience to God. In Deuteronomy Moses forewarned them that they would drift away from God, but if they sought after Him with their hearts, they would find Him.
“But if from there you seekthe LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” [Deuteronomy 4:29 NIV]
Moses taught the Israelites that God was merciful and would not forget His everlasting covenant with Abraham. He promised to make Abraham fruitful with children for generations and to bring them to the Promised Land. However, God also knew how the Israelites over many generations would eventually turn from Him and not seek Him. God knows our hearts and our sinful nature. He is a forgiving God but He also judges us according to our sins. He also provides a means for us to be reconciled with Him. He gave us His one and only son, Jesus Christ, to be reconciled with Him, to include the Gentiles. All believers have the same promise of reconciliation with God through Christ.
Luke wrote in the Book of Acts that God made everything from one man and gives all men life and breath so that we might seek Him and to know Him.
“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.” [Acts 17:26-28 NIV]
God wants us to seek Him yet we spend our waking hours seeking self-fulfillment.
Paul taught, “Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” [1 Corinthians 10:24 NIV]
On a recent trip to Cincinnati Ohio, I saw from the Interstate highway several large, old warehouses and factories. These large buildings used to employee thousands of people but just sit in either minimal use or abandoned. Our economy has been changing. Jobs are moving overseas and our manufacturing industries are diminishing. What I saw in those old buildings was a sad glimpse of our past and our future. It reminded me of how I see our cities over the years. We like the shiny new malls and areas you see in every city. The old neighborhoods and old malls are sitting idle or in disrepair. It shows how people are never satisfied with what they have but always want what they do not yet have. Man seeks the wrong things.
Man seeks the wrong kind of change, not in themselves but in their circumstances.
What do you pray to God for? Do you pray for change in your circumstances or change in your heart? Do you seek God’s kingdom on earth and how you can further His kingdom or do you seek those material, worldly things you want and do not have?
Seeking God is searching for Him and His kingdom. It is searching for Him with your heart, not for the things He can give you. We need to learn to seek God in our circumstances not just in a change to our circumstances. In other words we should seek God in everything, good and bad, not just in making things better for ourselves. We always want things to be better but we also have to learn to be content in our circumstances. This requires faith. Being faithful means we seek God in everything since we know and trust that He is part of everything.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” [Hebrews 11:6 NIV]
Seeking God is like seeing a face in the clouds. Have you ever just lain in the grass, looked at the clouds in the sky and found a face? You can miss it if you are not looking for it. Seeking God is the same sort of activity. You have to be looking for Him in all circumstances. The word, seeking can be broken out as “see king” or “see king(dom).” God expects us to seek Him in order for Him to be found.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” [Matthew 7:7-8 NIV]
Seeking God requires the faith that He exists and that He will be found.
Filed Under Upside Down WorldSeeking Comfort
Some friends and I were talking this week about air conditioning. The subject came up as we discussed the summer heat and how we are seeing some extreme temperatures this year. The thought came to me regarding the subject of comfort. Those of us that are older remember the days that air conditioning came to be a common necessity in our houses and cars. As a child I remember having cars and living in houses without air conditioning and how miserable it was in the hot summers. My grandparents did not have air conditioning in their home and when we visited during summer vacation, we would sit by the window very still during the middle of the day in order to stay as cool as possible. When my wife and I were newlyweds, in order to save money, we tried not turning on the air conditioner until the end of May. Well, in the South that is a mistake. We would toss and turn at night and did not get much sleep. We finally gave in about mid-May and wow, was that the best night’s sleep! We never did that again because we decided we needed to be comfortable to relax and sleep better.
There is a great debate brewing in our country regarding obesity, especially in children. Growing up we did not see many children or adults that were overweight in the extreme as we do today. We even have television shows about it. As I thought about the dependence we have on air conditioning and our love of food, it dawned on me how we spend our waking hours seeking these things. I came to the conclusion that we strive toward comfort in whatever we do. Other areas where we seek comfort are in entertainment, furniture, and even in our work environment to name a few. Our goal in life seems to be in seeking some level of comfort for ourselves. We usually say that it is money and power. In a sense it is, but why unless we are trying to provide ourselves comfort through its use. In other words, we use money and power to gain comfort. People seek careers and work that provides the means to gain comfort. We all have different levels of comfort that we will accept. Some people want to be rich so they can even indulge in luxurious comforts, but most people tend to seek some level where they feel enough comfort and satisfaction.
We can learn so much about ourselves as sinful beings through the Bible and the experiences of the Israelites. In the beginning of Exodus, Moses was called by God to be His spokesperson to bring the Israelites out of Egypt due to their cries of oppression.
“The LORD said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.’” [Exodus 3:7 NIV]
The result of becoming slaves to the Egyptians and the hard work they endured was really a loss of comfort. Their freedom was taken away so they could not seek meaningful work and create a balanced life with some level of comfort. We see later as the Israelites leave Egypt and head into the desert how quickly they forget that loss of comfort. As a matter of fact, they claim they had more comfort in Egypt then they do in the desert. What short memories! Their memories were about the comfort food brought rather than the tedious life they lived under Egyptian rule.
“In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’” [Exodus 16:2-3 NIV]
Man seeks his own comfort through many things whether it is in food, entertainment, easy work, cars, clothes, shoes and even in the escape from reality. A drug addict or alcoholic seeks comfort through artificial means. We seek comfort from suffering of all kinds. However, God is the ultimate provider of our comfort, and true comfort only comes through a righteous life.
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been
completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” [Isaiah 40:1-2 NIV]
Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” [2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NIV]
We are ever seeking comfort, whether it is in material possessions that provide us physical comfort, drugs that provide us mental comfort, or relationships with others that provide us both. The comfort we should be seeking is that obedience to God and faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and provides us comfort through righteousness and knowledge that we have eternal life in Him.
Filed Under Upside Down WorldPeace and Quiet
This week I saw several bumper stickers on cars that stated ideas like, ‘COEXIST,’ displayed the universal Peace symbol, or just said ‘Peace’ on the sticker. The news media has also talked a lot about moving troops out of Afghanistan and other countries where we are involved in war in order to have peace. I saw another sticker this morning on a car with several peace stickers that also said, “Give Intelligence a Try,” as if intelligence had anything to do with peace or that if you are a peaceful person, you are a more intelligent person. The problem with all of these high-minded sayings is that everyone will say they want peace, but what kind of peace do people really want? Do they want peace or just quiet? What kind of peace does the world really offer?
If you grew up in a household with siblings and/or you have children of your own, you know that those times when there is perfect peace and quiet in the house is when no one is home. Think about the times when you are occupied with something at home and next thing you hear is some scream or fighting among your children. I am sure you have probably uttered the common phrase, why can’t you just get along. We all do it and we would all like that mystical peace.
The definition for ‘quiet’ is calm, silence, freedom from noise, and serenity. The definition for ‘peace’ is absence of war; a state of harmony; a state of serenity or harmony. The terms, peace and quiet, tend to go together since by having peace or being in a state of
peace, creates a quiet. However, having quiet does not necessarily mean you are at peace or can create peace. They have different meanings. Have you ever lay awake at night struggling with anxious thoughts? It was probably quiet but you sure knew there was no peace.
But can we ever have real peace? I say we can never have peace without Christ and obedience to Christ, and that means without the Holy Spirit. I cannot even think of another religion that puts people on an equal footing in order to even have a chance at peace. And that’s because other religions rely on self. For the Christian God’s Word teaches us to seek peace, but it isn’t so much the kind where you just get along with others, it is more of an inner peace and only through obedience and righteousness. God knows as our Creator, that we inherited the sinful nature from Adam and Eve. That sinful nature is a constant battle ground always “warring” with what we want to do versus what we know we should do.
As Paul stated about himself, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do. And if I do
what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” (Romans 7:15-17 NIV)
Paul also says, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” (Galatians 5:16-17 NIV)
Paul then goes on to compare the acts of the sinful nature with the fruit of the Spirit. He ends by stating, “Let us not become conceited,
provoking and envying each other.” (Galatians 5:26 NIV)
Paul taught us about real peace. He taught, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 NIV)
Paul goes on to say, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent and praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9 NIV)
The peace that the world pushes is really just a quiet. The world figures that if we are not at war, we keep each other at bay, or we accept everything anyone does, then that quietness means we are at peace. However, we all know that conflicts break out among people and nations all the time and disturb that quiet. A volcano can erupt without warning and a storm can catch you at sea without warning.
Conflicts happen between people and nations without warning. But peace that God wants us to have is internal and it isn’t just quietness. As I said, quiet may be an outcome of peace but it doesn’t create peace. Our sinful nature is always at war within us.
Paul teaches us that we cannot have peace without the Holy Spirit. This makes sense since we cannot be righteous in God’s eyes without Christ. We are in too much conflict with our nature. This is also another reason bumper stickers and the desire for real peace and quiet will never come in this world until Jesus Christ returns.
“The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.” (Isaiah 32:17 NIV)
God gives us peace when we seek and live in a righteous manner and we have His Spirit in us. Because humans seek the wrong things, we lose that peace and create our own troubles. Unless there is peace with God, there will be no real peace on earth.
Filed Under Upside Down WorldBlame Game
Watching a cartoon this morning with my granddaughter, one of the characters in the cartoon was a bad guy. It was a funny cartoon and even the bad guy was funny. He had a partner who never said anything, just listened. What was funny was in listening to the bad guy always explaining to his silent partner why he did the bad things he did. He would explain his reasons in “flashbacks” of time but he always ended by blaming his mother for the way he turned out. He said his mother loved his brother more. The bad guy’s explanations were always nonsensical reasons but the point was he never took responsibility for his own actions. Do you think we do the same thing? I would say we do. It seems to be part of the sinful nature we inherited from Adam and Eve. Maybe there are times we stand up and apologize for something we did, but even then our minds generally are trying to churn out something or someone to blame first. We have to learn to accept responsibility for sin.
God knows our sinful nature. He knows we need direction and so He setup some principles around how we should live and relate to one another. The main idea God teaches regarding relationships is to love each other, but he also teaches forgiveness and mercy. This important concept comes in what is often referred to as the “Lord’s Prayer,” the prayer Jesus taught the disciples.
“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.’” [Matthew 6:9-15 NIV]
Why would forgiveness and mercy be so important? Why would Jesus talk about forgiveness as an important concept in our prayers? It is because forgiveness and mercy allow a person who has sinned to find acceptance and to be restored to fellowship. If a person knows he/she is not going to find forgiveness or mercy, they will try harder to place blame on someone else, including God.
In the beginning, man and woman blamed someone else for their sinful disobedience to God. We learn in the story regarding the “fall” of Adam and Eve that the woman blamed the snake and the man blamed the woman. God, however, held all three accountable for their actions. [Genesis 3:1-24]
We see this in the work place today. Have you ever worked in a company where you spent a good amount of unproductive time making sure you protected yourself through written communications like email? The more unforgiving a work environment is, the more you keep things in writing. You can look at all the American laws to see how far we have come to protecting ourselves from blame. America has a lot of lawyers, which demonstrates our willingness as a people and culture in finding fault with others. The first time I remember taking notice of “blame protection” was when cigarette manufacturers had to place the health hazard warning on cigarette packs. Now why in the world do they have to do that when people know they have to take responsibility for smoking in the first place? No one makes them smoke. Coffee cups now contain statements regarding how the ingredients are hot in this container. This is just more nonsense all because people are looking to blame others for what they should take responsibility for themselves.
We play the same game with sin. The Bible teaches us to repent before receiving Jesus Christ as Savior in order to be saved. In other words, accept responsibility that we are actually sinful and need a savior.
In Acts Peter replied to the Jews regarding the crucifixion of Christ by telling them to repent first. Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” [Acts 2:38 NIV]
As Man, we even like to blame God for our sinful nature.
Paul says, “One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”” [Romans 9:19-20 NIV]
Man goes so far in trying to shed blame for his own sinfulness that he creates other gods. In the mind of sinful man, it is much easier to worship a god you create in your own mind because you control the attributes of that god. In this way you do not have to be concerned with blame or being judged for being disobedient. However, even in this, the Living God knows Man’s nature. It is the reason for the very first and most important commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” [Deuteronomy 5:7 NIV]
Paul teaches, “The wrath of God is being revealed in heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” [Romans 1:18-20 NIV]
Time and again God teaches us through lessons in the Bible, from beginning to end, that we need to first accept our own sinfulness, our own faults. God also provides His mercy, forgiveness, and love so that we might overcome that guilt, turn our lives around through repentance, and accept our Savior, Jesus Christ so that we might have life eternal and a relationship with him. And in order to learn this lesson in accepting blame, He teaches us to first love Him, then to love others providing them forgiveness so that we might also be forgiven. If you follow God’s formula, you eliminate the blame game and experience a life with joy, peace, and hope. It is a much better life to live.
Filed Under Upside Down WorldParenting is Forever
This week a friend made a casual comment that he thought parenting ended when children leave the house and begin to work. I know he made the statement in a “kidding” sort of way. I know firsthand that your children still need your advice and help even after they are on their own. My wife was talking to a co-worker just today on the same topic. The co-worker was having some car trouble and made the comment that she wished she could talk to her dad for some advice on what she should do with her car. It is always interesting to see how our relationships in the world are not much unlike our relationship to God. There is usually some similarity but since we live in a fallen world, our relationship with God is much more rewarding and permanent.
If you look around, you will find every kind of parent/child relationship. We have all seen the stories and know of people who are in situations where a child has gone wayward like the prodigal son, yet the parents always take the child back when they are in need. We have seen the situations where the parents are un-nurturing to their children, yet the children continue to love their parents. And, of course, most relationships seem to fall somewhere in between these two extremes.
God not only demonstrates to us how the parent/child relationship ought to be, He also demonstrates that parenting is forever. The fact is that once you have a child, you become a parent and that never changes, but that is the obvious physical relationship. What I am talking about here is more of the spiritual relationship and connection we have between parent and child, God and Man. You could summarize the Bible’s message as one of love, justice, mercy, compassion, and reconciliation by stating that God’s Word is all about the parent/child relationship.
We could go back to the beginning of time but let’s start with the relationship God had with the nation of Israel. God pulled all the Israelites from Egypt in a great exodus to form their nation.
God told Moses, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” [Exodus 19:5-6 NIV]
God then gives Moses the Ten Commandments for the Israelites to live by. You can see that the first four commandments have to do with their relationship to God and the other commandments have more to do with their relationship to man.
God said, “You shall have no other gods, no idols, not misuse my name, and you will remember the Sabbath as Holy.” [First four commands paraphrased from Exodus 20:1-7 NIV]
Even the fifth command that begins ‘man’s relationship to man’ has to do with honoring your father and mother; in other words, a relationship with your parents. These commands were to teach the Israelites love and respect for the Father-Creator.
The Book of Isaiah is a wonderful book describing God’s relationship to man. Even though Isaiah prophesied about Israel and Judah, God brings in His plan for Jesus and His redemption of all nations, not just Israel. The entire book describes the sinfulness of the Israelites and their rejection of God, yet God tells them of His wrath against them, to teach them, and then to redeem them.
Consider these verses in Isaiah, where God is talking to the people of Judah.
God says, “Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” [Isaiah 44:21-22 NIV]
After the Israelites had been in captivity in Babylon, God tells them that now is the time to flee and go back home.
“This is what the LORD says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like the numberless grains; their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me.’” [Isaiah 48:17-19 NIV]
God’s prophecies always seem to point out His love for man; man’s turning from Him, His judgment and wrath used to turn man back to Him, man’s repentance, and His accepting us back. The point is that God created us, loves us, and is forever there for us. We, however, continue to go our own way, in our sinful nature, and stray from Him. His way is generally to gently nudge us back to Him, and then eventually show us His wrath until we get the message to repent. This is similar to how we raise our own children. We usually give them a warning, maybe a threat, and then we take action. This is generally the way to handle teaching children how to act, show respect, and get along in our society and relationships with others. God uses similar methods.
However, there is one big difference in our relationship to God in contrast to our parent/child relationship. It is the depth of love. God is love so He loves us no matter how we are. He knows our hearts and our true selves. He also knows we are born from Adam’s sinful nature so in His love, He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sinful nature in order that we can be atoned for our sins and have an open relationship with Him through Christ. God has His arms open wide for any who choose to love Him by accepting Christ as their Savior, repents, and turns back to Him. We cannot say that as parents and children in the world that we have the same depth of love in our own relationships. God is our Father and is always there for us if we choose to accept Him through Christ. As Creator and Father, He is our Parent forever.
Filed Under Upside Down WorldUpside Down Love
Recently I finished a book by Francis Chan called, Crazy Love, recommended by a friend. In reading I came across a question Francis was asked by a student once. The question was, “Why would a loving God force me to love Him?” The answer Francis gave was a good answer but even he says that he could not come up with a better answer in the moment. These kinds of questions are usually not simple ones to answer in the spur of the moment unless you have thought them through before. It certainly made me think when I read it in the book on how I would answer that question. The student asking the question obviously had been thinking about it for a while.
I was asked a similar kind of question once and it is a common question. The person could not understand how a loving God would allow such tragedy in the world. At the time I was no more prepared to answer that than Francis felt he was. But I also knew that these questions sound simple enough on the surface but require more complex answers. Usually the people asking these simple sounding questions do not really want to hear an answer. They typically have a different God in mind for themselves anyway so are not always open to hear the answer. I think the reason is people want to box God into simple terms and if they can’t, they come up with their own image of God. Can you imagine a God as complex as One who created this earth, all the stars, planets, living creatures, processes, and other inanimate things could be explained in simple terms? Even as Christians, we can only explain God up to a point because He is beyond our full understanding. What God has done, though, through His Word is give us enough to know who He is, His character, and all that we really need to know to believe in Him.
These questions fit my theme for how an upside down world thinks in relation to God. Love is really a key to it all. The simple answer as Francis gave is that He doesn’t. However, as Francis also said there is more to this. God does give us a choice whether to love Him or not. However, this is only part of the answer. What we first need to understand is that God IS love and we cannot love without Him. How does that happen? He gives us the Holy Spirit as we accept Jesus as LORD and Savior.
Paul says, “…because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” [Romans 5:5 NIV]
Paul goes on to say, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [Romans 5:6, 8 NIV]
We are saved through His love. The reason I say God’s love is key is that it provides the foundation for everything else in our relationship to Him. We receive His grace, His mercy, and His forgiveness through Christ, through the Spirit. In other words, God’s love is a gift. It is a gift of Himself through the Holy Spirit for those who believe they are sinners and need saving. They must believe Christ came upon the earth through the Holy Spirit to be Man, to take on our sins by dying for our sins, and then to be resurrected as our Lord and King in heaven. The Bible teaches this throughout.
John says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16 NIV]
This also becomes the basis for why Jesus taught that the greatest commandment has everything to do with love.
Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” [Matthew 22:37-40 NIV]
People say they love but they really love things, or love what someone can do for them. And we always want others to love us no matter how we are or act. The world has a distorted view on love. People use the term for love all the time when they mean lust, whether it be for someone or something. True love can only come through God and through the Spirit He gives us as believers. We generally have limits on our love. This is why loving our enemies is so crucial to the understanding of true love. We as sinners are essentially enemies of God because He is Holy.
Jesus taught, “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” [Matthew 5:44, 48 NIV]
So Jesus equates love with perfection, but it is God’s love that is perfect and we can only have God’s love through the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus was explaining to the Disciples what would be happening to him, Paul declared he would stand by him at all costs. Yet Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times, which he did. [Matthew 26:33-34, 69-75 NIV]
After Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus came to Peter and asked him three times if he loved him. It was symbolic of Peter’s three denials. Peter again said yes three times. Jesus knew Peter’s heart as only God can know. Peter could not truly love until he gained the Holy Spirit. We cannot do anything apart from God, even to love.
Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” [John 15:4-6 NIV]
God is Love, that is His Nature, whereas we have a sinful nature born in the image of Adam. God has to give us the Spirit in order to change our spiritual nature. We still live in a physical world and Jesus told us to be in the world but not of it. So only through the Spirit can we truly love, even our enemies. And to love our enemies, we have to truly love God first with our whole being, so that through the Spirit we receive from God, we can see others in a different light. It is a choice God gave us. It is an upside down love that does not make sense to the world.
Filed Under Upside Down WorldBohemian or Godly Legacy
In one of my daily readings this week, I read from two perspectives on history regarding the lives of two different people – one secular and one Christian. It was interesting to me to note the differences in these two men’s lives and the legacy each left according to history.
On February 1, the secular history book told a story about Henri Murger who is remembered by an opera (La Boheme) written based on his stories romanticizing the bohemian life. Bohemia was actually a place but the term became synonymous with unconventional people like artists, writers, and intellectuals and their non-traditional way of life. The opera based on Murger’s stories was first performed February 1, 1896. This performance was long after his death in 1861 at the age of 39. Henri Murger evidently lived most of his life in the bohemian lifestyle, one of just getting by in making a living. His legacy, however, seems encompassed in this popular opera written on his stories. When you read about the opera, there is not much redeeming value to it but evidently it is popular among people who like opera. Supposedly Murger’s stories reflected his life such as that portrayed in La Boheme.
In contrast was a story dated the same day, February 1, 1776, when a young man named James Taylor accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. A humorous side note is that Taylor was so long in prayer the morning he accepted Jesus that it made him late to his own wedding. Because of a serious accident at some point in Taylor’s life, he had to give up his occupation as a stonemason and became a Methodist preacher. His wife also became a Christian and they laid the foundation for many generations of Taylor’s. His great-grandson, Hudson Taylor, became the first Protestant missionary to inland China. Hudson Taylor spent 51 years in China, started what is now called OMF International, brought over 800 missionaries to China who began 125 schools, resulting in 18,000 conversions at the time.
According to historian Ruth Tucker,
“No other missionary in the nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematized plan of evangelizing a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor.” – By Ruth Tucker in From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya A Biographical History of Christian Missions
Hudson Taylor became a Christian in 1849 during the same lifetime as Henri Murger.
While reading about these two men in the history books, I couldn’t help but notice such a contrast in their lives and their legacies. One man lived a short life and one seemingly devoted to just getting by. His life was focused on being part of a community of artists, the bohemian and unconventional way of life, as he seemed to emphasize in his stories. The other man lived a life devoted to spreading the Word of God to others. His life led to a legacy that blossomed with his great grandson who helped save thousands of people in China through Christ. What a contrast between the two lives of these men.
The question is what do you want to leave those who come behind you in life? If you live a life for yourself, then there is a chance no one will remember you or really care. If you live a life for others as Jesus commanded, then you leave a life worth remembering. It is a certainty that if you live a life pleasing to God, then you will “plant a tree” that lives on to the next generations.
“They will be called the oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” [Isaiah 61:3 NIV]
Several bible verses come to mind regarding how we should focus our lives.
Paul taught, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” [Ephesians 5:15 NIV]
“The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.” [Proverbs 20:7 NIV]
“He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” [Proverbs 21:21 NIV]
It is apparent from God’s Word in the Bible that He wants us focused on a life pleasing to Him, not seeking our own glory. Those who pursue personal interests in the secular world also leave a legacy. In the case of Murger, he left a legacy in the bohemian style of social rebellion that has limited entertainment value. In the case of Taylor, he left a Godly legacy that helped save thousands of people that has unlimited eternal value.
References:
Great Stories From History For Every Day of the Year, Fall River Press, W.B. Marsh and Bruce Carrick, pages 48-49.
The One Year Christian History, Tyndale House Publishers, E. Michael and Sharon Rusten, pages 64-65.
Filed Under Upside Down WorldGreeks and gods
This past week the fever of excitement football fans have toward their team’s potential for a National Championship gave me pause to think about my own focus on such things as sports and other type “gods” in my life. Our Sunday School class happened to be studying chapter 9 in Revelation. Because I had been thinking of America’s fanatical emphasis on sports and its importance to daily life, some verses stood out to me.
“The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood – idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20-21 NIV)
In Revelation John wrote what God told him would happen to the population living at the time after the blowing of the sixth trumpet. Revelation is full of description about the destruction to those people still living in the world when the end times come. What strikes me about this particular passage, though, is that people will see the destruction in the world and yet not “blink an eye.” They will continue to follow their sinful ways as they always have. The verse says it all in that people will harden their hearts and continue to reject the living God for what they primarily want to worship. These are the same things we worship today. We worship anything built with our own hands, including our job successes and positions, our money, and other material things. We worship Hollywood and entertainers, sports and sports figures, and it seems people will worship anyone famous whether they are of good character or not. Look at the popularity of the reality shows that represent the seedy side of people’s lives.
I find myself caught up in deciding what I should spend my money on next regarding television. Should I upgrade my cable or move to satellite? The irony is that I rarely watch television except for the daily news and football in the fall season. I grew up with three channels on television to choose from, now I can choose from hundreds, yet nothing seems to be on that I want to watch. The world has us moving in that direction which pleases our desires. We like to be comforted and entertained. People fantasize that they can become wealthy, powerful, and control our own destinies if they could only be like one of those Hollywood or sports greats, or win a lottery.
I was thinking of how far our educational system has sunk in relation to the sports craze that we are currently experiencing. An athlete doesn’t have to graduate with a college degree or probably even do much college work in order to jump into the vast wealth they can gain “overnight” by simply being really good at playing a game like football. We have an excellent player this year that came to our school for one year, and will most likely be signing a multi-million dollar contract at the age of twenty. He won’t have a degree but he will make more money than a degree would give him. The amount of money college coaches get in colleges now and the short careers they typically have in any one place, has dramatically changed from the early days of sports. Sports used to be an extra-curricular activity for most people as part of a full academic experience but now has become so commercialized that it is all some people want to do. College just becomes a quick stepping stone to professional money for just playing a game. A university has thousands of students who pay quite a lot of money for the privilege of an education if they work hard, but that same university’s sports program gets the most public attention and money yet helps the fewest people. Sports have become a god to so many people today. People will hate one another because they support opposing sports teams; and even Christians do this.
Another god that came to mind this week was the emphasis people have on intellect. In conversation with business friends, a discussion came about regarding their child being smart enough to receive offers of full tuition reimbursements at some universities. It is just another example of how we brag and show our pride over such things we have no personal control over. We are proud of our own or our children’s intelligence or athletic abilities or some other such God-given gift, yet we don’t thank God for our blessings. We would rather brag in ways that make us feel superior in some way rather than feel blessed and thankful.
In thinking about the sports, entertainment, and intellect mania we see in the world (especially in America) today, it reminded me of the Greeks. I know that in reality our culture is made up of a more complex mixture of ideas, experiences, other historical societies, but the Greek culture came to mind for its similarities of cultural emphasis and its influence on us. I had always heard in history lessons about the Greek gods, literature, entertainment, and Olympics. The Olympics we see today still emphasize their origin to the first Greek Olympics. People have always seemed to emphasize the importance of intellect, athleticism, and “who” you know to get ahead in society.
At one point in Apostle Paul’s ministry, he went to Athens to wait on Silas and Timothy. While he waited, he became distressed at seeing so many idols in the Greek city of Athens. Athens even consisted of people who spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas. Out of curiosity, some Athenians became interested in hearing Paul talk about God so allowed him to speak at their highest court on Mars Hill. (Refer to Acts 17:15-21)
“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: ‘Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with the inscription:
TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.’” (Acts 17:22-23 NIV)
Evidently the Greeks at the time believed in many gods and played it “safe” by even worshiping an “unknown” god. They wanted to cover all their bases. It also tells me they probably spent a good bit of time debating ideas about idols in what you might call intellectual discussions.
The Bible does not place importance on intellect, athleticism, or materialism other than to speak against some of it. Rather it emphasizes character-building and personal development as God teaches us to live. We have to pay attention to what we worship. We cannot let our desires come between us and God. God expects us to worship Him alone. The reason is that as humans our nature is to worship anything but God. God teaches us in the Bible that developing our character is more important to Him. Developing our character starts with loving Him first, loving others, and obeying His commands. It is a focus on relationships and personal character, not a focus on external things. We cannot place worldly materialism or climbing society’s “ladder” above developing a relationship with God. We need to take a lesson from the Greeks and their gods, which placed emphasis on worldly and external desires.
As Revelation shows us, people will harden their hearts to such a degree in the end times, that even during great destruction in the world, they will continue to worship materialism and sinful desires. As Christians we cannot desire what the world and our sinful nature desires. We must want what God desires for us and that is to know Jesus Christ, believe in him, love him, and focus on the eternal life.
Filed Under Upside Down WorldPride’s Pettiness
Last night I was driving home and saw a bumper sticker on the car in front of me. The sticker said, “SMILE, It Confuses People!” I had just been talking with someone about pettiness in the work place (specifically in a new job), so it all kind of fit together. We all experience pride’s pettiness at times, whether we are the brunt of it or we dish it out to others. We usually experience it first hand when we start a new job or at least it seems more pronounced. Being the new person at a place of work, you begin with the idea that you can start fresh with everyone liking you and your liking them. You find out soon enough that people are really just sizing you up and in reality, you are sizing them up. I remember reading in the book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 (by W. Phillip Keller), describing the relationship of a shepherd with their sheep. The author described the personalities of sheep. You have those sheep that like to dominate others and those that allow themselves to be dominated, and then those you could say are in the middle. God refers to us as sheep in His Word. People really do act like sheep most of the time. I am not stating anything revolutionary here, but the way we act does reflect our state of mind e.g. our pride, our humility, or our neutrality.
Pride is reflected in those that lash out and hurt others, yet it also shows in those that get their feelings hurt by others. Humility is reflected in those that accept a position inferior to God, and recognize that God allows others to win in our place. Neutrality is reflected in a non-caring attitude or at times when we are on the sidelines not involved in a situation. These positions seem to dominate our interactions with other people whether at work or home. We probably stay in neutral most of the time. But when someone does something or says something to us, it usually takes us out of neutral and into some kind of emotion. People simply react out of their emotional state of the moment and this is why God teaches us several concepts to follow.
First, God commands us to love Him and then to love others. This is the basic tenet of the Ten Commandments, which the Bible calls “the Law.” It is most challenging to love God first in all things, even above our family, and then to love others as ourselves. Humans just cannot seem to do this very well but it is all because of our sinful nature. Second, having a sinful nature, God teaches other concepts for us to follow. He teaches us to hold our tongue, to avoid favoritism, to have faith, to know God is sovereign, and to look eternal to name a few of these concepts.
James said, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” [James 1:26 NIV]
James also said, “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. …But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” [James 2:1, 9 NIV]
Peter said, “For, ‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.’” [1 Peter 3:10-11 NIV]
John said, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” [1 John 3:18 NIV]
Hebrews teaches, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.” [Hebrews 4:14 NIV]
So how does all this come down to the pettiness we experience at work or home with other people? All these concepts boil down to how we should think and act. These life concepts help protect us from having a petty pride. As a side note, my experience is that working in so-called Christian environments is usually worse when dealing with others because we are so much more sensitive to how we should act, yet Christians still suffer from a sinful nature and pride. Christians, however, are expected to think and act differently so the world sees us differently and thus sees Christ in us. However, we are imperfect humans and have to work at these attributes. Paul teaches us to pray continuously, and to learn to be content in all circumstances.
Paul taught, “Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV]
Paul said, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” [Philippians 4:11-12 NIV]
We have to look at others in love no matter how they are acting. It is one of the ways we keep our prideful feelings out of the situation. You have to learn this because it isn’t easy to do unless you are conscious of the effort. You hope that with effort and prayer that the Spirit will guide you to this more naturally but it takes work and practice. You have to learn to take “me” out of things because that is when we get our feelings hurt. Getting hurt feelings or feeling inferior, as we all do at times, is a form of pride. Pride is basic to our sinful nature so we have to always be watching for it.
While we are human and in the world, there will be no end to our prideful ways, of hurting others, of wanting to control our situations, of wanting recognition or success or pleasing others. The issue is more how we learn God’s ways to be better than our ways and to seek His kingdom first so that the worldly ways have less affect on us allowing us to be a light to the world as Christ wants us to be. As the bumper sticker implies, having a smile for someone who is wallowing in their worldly ways will confuse them, especially if the smile is an outward sign of a loving heart within, backed by a confidence we inherit through the Spirit from a true faith in God. Whether we smile because we have joy and love in our hearts or show a prideful pettiness for someone are choices we make. Our choice reflects our relationship to God, our state of pride or humility and whether we have love or envy for others. My belief is that to counter our sinful tendencies toward incorrect choices, we must stay in daily focus on God, His Word, and in prayer and reflection. So smile and reflect Christ in your heart. Your relationships will be a lot smoother, more loving, and more peaceful as God’s Will intends.
Filed Under Upside Down World